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This study aimed to analyze rice straw alternative managements to maximize the rice-soybean succession yield and to quantify their impacts on soil properties. The experiment was set up in a completely randomized design with six replicates. Nine rice straw managements were evaluated: straw burning (M1), straw harvesting (M2), straw incorporation with disc harrow and two passes (M3) or three passes (M4) of leveling disc harrow, straw incorporation with knife-roller and soybean no-tillage (M5), straw incorporation with knife-roller and two passes (M6) or three passes (M7) of leveling disc harrow, straw incorporation with two passes of knife-roller and two passes (M8) or three passes (M9) of leveling disc harrow. Straw incorporation by knife-roller provided the lowest soil organic matter (SOM) contents due to slow mineralization of fresh straw incorporated shallow into the soil, although SOM increased in the surface layer related to the initial content. Rice-soybean succession yield was more affected by the physical than by the soil chemical properties. The straw incorporation with one pass of knife-roller and two passes of leveling disc harrow (M6) can replace the straw burning, without affecting the rice-soybean succession yield and soil physical quality, with a reduction in machinery operations, allowing early soil tillage. Made available in DSpace on 2022-08-23T11:20:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 rc-2022.pdf: 351346 bytes, checksum: 084e3820154a362375a0dc1d9c8e46f3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2022

Irrigation strategies are keys to fostering sustainable and climate-resilient rice production by increasing efficiency, building resilience and reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. These strategies are aligned with the Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) principles, which aim to maximize productivity whilst adapting to and mitigating climate change. Achieve such mitigation, adaptation, and productivity goals- to the extent possible- is described as climate smartness. Measuring climate smartness is challenging, with recent progress focusing on the use of agronomic indicators in a limited range of contexts. One way to broaden the ability to measure climate-smartness is to use modeling tools, expanding the scope of climate smartness assessments. Accordingly, and as a proof-of-concept, this study uses modeling tools with CSA indicators (i.e., Greenhouse Intensity and Water Productivity) to quantify the climate-smartness of irrigation management in rice and to assess sensitivity to climate. We focus on a field experiment that assessed four irrigation strategies in tropical conditions, Continuous Flooding (CF), Intermittent Irrigation (II), Intermittent Irrigation until Flowering (IIF), and Continuous soil saturation (CSS). The DNDC model was used to simulate rice yields, GHG emissions and water inputs. We used model outputs to calculate a previously developed Climate-Smartness Index (CSI) based on water productivity and greenhouse gas intensity, which score on a scale between−1 (lack of climate-smartness) to 1 (high climate smartness) the climate-smartness of irrigation strategies. The CSS exhibited the highest simulation-based CSI, and CF showed the lowest. A sensitivity analysis served to explore the impacts of climate on CSI. While higher temperatures reduced CSI, rainfall mostly showed no signal. The climate smartness decreasing in warmer temperatures was associated with increased GHG emissions and, to some extent, a reduction in Water Productivity (WP). Overall, CSI varied with the climate-management interaction, demonstrating that climate variability can influence the performance of CSA practices. We conclude that combining models with climate-smart indicators can broaden the CSA-based evidence and provide reproducible research findings. The methodological approach used in this study can be useful to fill gaps in observational evidence of climate-smartness and project the impact of future climates in regions where calibrated crop models perform well.

Most studies about soil organic carbon stock changes in the Cerrado (Brazilian Savanna) biome are either related to field data collected in clayey Ferralsols or different land uses, as if they were in equilibrium. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of tillage systems and crop sequences on the soil organic carbon stock and crop yield, in a sandy Ferralsol from Bahia, Brazil. The experimental design was randomized blocks, with four replicates. Soil samples were collected after five years of cotton, soybean and maize monocropping under heavy disk harrow and leveling harrow (conventional tillage), and of crop rotation of cotton, soybean and maize with green manure or cover crop (no-tillage). Additional samples were collected from a non-cultivated site (Neotropical Savanna, Cerrado sensu stricto). Soil conservation practices such as no-tillage and crop rotation with cover crop and green manure favored the soil organic carbon stock at the 0-40 cm layer, with the highest values reaching 36.03 Mg ha-1. The accrued soil carbon stock under conventional tillage and monoculture of cotton, maize and soybean was lower than under no-tillage, which ranged from 30.9 to 54.9 %, with the soil organic carbon stock increasing at the annual rate of 2.36 Mg ha-1 during five years. The no-tillage, with the soybean-maize-cotton rotation, in combination with cover crop and green manure, increased the cotton and soybean yields, with a simultaneous organic carbon accumulation in the sandy soil. Mudanças no estoque de carbono orgânico e produtividade de culturas em solo arenoso tropical sob sistemas de produção de grãos-algodão em sequeiro na Bahia, Brasil. A maioria dos estudos sobre mudanças no estoque de carbono orgânico do solo no bioma Cerrado está relacionada a dados coletados em Latossolos argilosos ou sob diferentes usos da terra, como se estivessem em equilíbrio. Objetivou-se avaliar os efeitos de tipos de preparo do solo e de sequência de culturas sobre o estoque de carbono orgânico do solo e a produtividade das culturas, em Latossolo arenoso, na Bahia. O delineamento experimental foi o de blocos casualizados, com quatro repetições. Amostras de solo foram coletadas após cinco anos de monocultivo de algodão, soja e milho e de uso de grade de discos pesada e grade niveladora (preparo convencional), e de rotação das culturas do algodão, soja e milho com adubo verde ou planta de cobertura (plantio direto). Amostras adicionais foram coletadas em área não cultivada (Cerrado sensu stricto). Práticas de conservação do solo como o não revolvimento e rotação de culturas com planta de cobertura e adubo verde favoreceram o estoque de carbono orgânico do solo na camada de 0-40 cm, com os maiores valores atingindo 36,03 Mg ha-1. O acúmulo de carbono no solo sob preparo convencional e monocultivo de algodão, milho e soja foi menor do que sob plantio direto, que variou de 30,9 a 54,9 %, com o estoque no plantio direto aumentando à taxa anual de 2,36 Mg ha-1 durante cinco anos. O plantio direto, com a rotação soja-milho-algodão, combinada com planta de cobertura e adubo verde, aumentou a produtividade do algodão e da soja e acumulou carbono orgânico no solo arenoso. Made available in DSpace on 2022-09-20T18:05:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ORGANIC-CARBON-STOCK-AND-CROP-CHANGES-8.pdf: 274061 bytes, checksum: 81fe76a0e790591eec85cc229352b007 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2022

The proper nitrogen management is required to achieve high irrigated rice yield. This study aimed to determine the rice response to nitrogen topdressing doses and calibrate the chlorophyll meter reading. Three experiments were conducted in a randomized block design. In the first experiment, five N rates (0, 30, 60, 90, and 120 kg ha-1) were evaluated as the first, and 30 kg ha-1 N as the second topdressing, which were combined with the application of 30 kg ha-1 N as the first and five N rates, as the second topdressing. The other experiments assessed the application of 30 kg ha-1 of N, as the first, and four N rates (0, 40, 80, and 120 kg ha-1), as the second topdressing. There was a response to N application, with maximum technical efficiency reaching 33 kg ha-1 in the first and between 40 and 50 kg ha-1 in the second topdressing. The chlorophyll meter was sensitive to estimate the amount of N to be applied in topdressing, using the nitrogen sufficiency index (NSI). To each percent unit of NSI below 95%, one should apply 10 kg ha-1 of N as the first and 2-3 kg ha-1 of N as the second topdressing. Made available in DSpace on 2020-01-17T18:07:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CNPAF2019rc.pdf: 137326 bytes, checksum: 2d5ae0ddf5dd69a7dd6f3fc47aac72b1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2019

Sustainable production systems, such as the no-tillage system (NTS), have a tendency to increase organic carbon in the soil. However, in Brazilian cotton production, the conventional tillage system (CTS) is predominant, and long-term studies on cotton crop under the NTS are scarce. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of soil management and crop rotation systems on the cotton fiber yield as well as on the carbon and nitrogen accumulation in the soil. This study was conducted in the Brazilian savanna over 9 years and consisted of the following four treatments with different soil management systems: the NTS and CTS with the succession or rotation of crops (cotton, soybean, maize, and Urochloa ruziziensis). The NTS increased the carbon content by 55% in the top 5 cm after 9 years and increased the carbon stock by approximately 20% at a depth of up to 40 cm. Crop rotation with soybean, maize, and cotton was insufficient to increase the carbon stock in the soil under the CTS. In addition to increasing the fiber yield, the cotton crop in a NTS rotated with soybean + U. ruziziensis and with maize + U. ruziziensis increases the carbon stock and nitrogen content in soil. Made available in DSpace on 2019-11-19T18:10:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 SoilCarbonAccumulationCottonAlexandreFerreira.pdf: 414561 bytes, checksum: 719a903aa62a8bf7d31ce99abc59a72e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2020

O manejo apropriado da água de irrigação está entre as técnicas necessárias para atingir não apenas alto potencial produtivo como também maior eficiência no uso de água e insumos nos sistemas agrícolas irrigados. Objetivou-se com este estudo determinar a influência do manejo da irrigação no desempenho agronômico de cultivares de arroz irrigado e na eficiência de uso da água, em várzeas tropicais. O estudo foi constituído por três experimentos: um, conduzido no Campo Experimental da Unitins, em Formoso do Araguaia, TO em Plintossolo Háplico distrófico; e dois experimentos foram realizados na Fazenda Palmital, da Embrapa Arroz e Feijão, no município de Goianira, GO, em Gleissolo Háplico distrófico. Foram avaliados quatro manejos de água: Inundação contínua - IC (método convencional, com lâmina de água contínua durante todo ciclo); Irrigação intermitente em todo ciclo - II; Irrigação intermitente até a floração, após contínua - IIF e Solo saturado - SS (solo mantido acima da capacidade de campo, mas sem lâmina de água), e quatro cultivares BRS Pampeira, BRS Catiana, BRS A702 CL e IRGA 424. O delineamento experimental usado foi o inteiramente casualizado, com cinco repetições, no esquema de parcelas divididas, constituídas pelos quatro manejos de água, e as subparcelas pelas cultivares. Os resultados mostraram que o manejo da irrigação solo saturado propicia produtividade média de grãos das cultivares de arroz irrigado similar ou superior em até 16% ao manejo tradicional de água com inundação contínua e com redução de até 82% do volume de água aplicado, o que resulta em maior eficiência de uso da água. O manejo solo saturado e irrigação intermitente constituem estratégias para racionalizar o uso dos recursos hídricos na orizicultura. Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-15T02:21:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 raes-2021-2.pdf: 256322 bytes, checksum: 3d9340cfe2e81d7c456c2b38848f3113 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2021 Edição especial.

The main objective of this study was to assess the impact of biochar rate (0, 8, 16 and 32 Mg ha−1) on the water retention capacity (WRC) of a sandy loam Dystric Plinthosol. The applied biochar was a by-product of slow pyrolysis (∼450 °C) of eucalyptus wood, milled to pass through a 2000 μm sieve that resulted in a material with an intrinsic porosity ≤10 μm and a specific surface area of ∼3.2 m2 g−1. The biochar was incorporated into the top 15 cm of the soil under an aerobic rice system. Our study focused on both the effects on WRC and rice yields 2 and 3 years after its application. Undisturbed soil samples were collected from 16 plots in two soil layers (5–10 and 15–20 cm). Soil water retention curves were modelled using a nonlinear mixed model which appropriately accounts for uncertainties inherent of spatial variability and repeated measurements taken within a specific soil sample. We found an increase in plant-available water in the upper soil layer proportional to the rate of biochar, with about 0.8% for each Mg ha−1 biochar amendment 2 and 3 years after its application. The impact of biochar on soil WRC was most likely related to an effect in overall porosity of the sandy loam soil, which was evident from an increase in saturated soil moisture and macro porosity with 0.5 and 1.6% for each Mg ha−1 of biochar applied, respectively. The increment in soil WRC did not translate into an increase in rice yield, essentially because in both seasons the amount of rainfall during the critical period for rice production exceeded 650 mm. The use of biochar as a soil amendment can be a worthy strategy to guarantee yield stability under short-term water-limited conditions. Our findings raise the importance of assessing the feasibility of very high application rates of biochar and the inclusion of a detailed analysis of its physical and chemical properties as part of future investigations.

In order to study the effect of use organic agriculture avoids the use of synthetic fertilizers and emphasizes the use of organic inputs to provide nutrients to the plants. This study had as aim to evaluate the effect of organic management time on nutrition and productivity of sugarcane. The nutrition levels and the productivity of sugarcane plantations were evaluated in areas cultivated for two, six and ten years in the organic production system compared with a sugarcane plantation cultivated for ten years in the conventional system. The sugarcane organic production system enhanced the nutrition levels of the plants and raised the crops productivity. After ten years of organic cultivation, there was an increase of 43, 42.8 and 32% in the leaf contents of potassium (K), phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N), respectively, in relation to the conventional production system and an increase of 209% in the sugarcane productivity. The management of the fertilizers inputs used in the sugarcane organic production system is adequate for the plants nutrition, with positive result on the crops productivity. The effects are more visible after six and ten years of management in the organic production system. In the organic production system, after ten and six years, it could be suggested that the productivity was 209 and 98% higher in comparison to the productivity of the cane cultivated under the conventional system, areas Org.10 and Org.6, respectively.

The irrigation with vinasse can improve soil fertility. However, this use should take into account the characteristics of each soil because the vinasse has unbalanced amounts of mineral and organic elements which might lead to leach the ions, especially nitrate and potassium. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impacts of vinasse irrigation on effluent ionic concentrations in Brazilian Ferralsols from two areas in Central Brazil: a sugarcane field, and a natural undisturbed savannah area. Soil samples from the two sites were placed into PVC columns with 120 cm height × 25 cm diameter with sugarcane. Undiluted vinasse was applied once on the surface of the soil columns at doses equivalent to 0, 300, 600 and 1200 m3 ha-1. After 0, 60, 90 and 120 days of irrigation, samples of the effluent were collected and the concentrations of dissolved organic matter (DOM), Cl, Ca, Mg, Na, K, total Fe, NH4 +, NO3 -, SO4 2- as well as pH were determined. The ions concentration data were modeled in the chemical equilibrium model Visual Minteq v. 3.0. Results revealed vinasse?s dose, days after irrigation and land use had a relevant effect on most nutrients effluent concentration. Contrasting pH values were observed for both soils and in the savannah soil was observed a decrease in pH at high vinasse doses. This paper thus revealed leaching of the DOM was strongly time dependent. High vinasse doses may lead to increase nutrient leaching and soil dispersion regardless the land use and time after irrigation. Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-19T23:49:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 effects.pdf: 1151491 bytes, checksum: 36a1224b3adffc3805aea3e1657ec6fb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-04

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of biochar made from Eucalyptus on soil fertility, and on the yield and development of upland rice. The experiment was performed during two years in a randomized block design with four replicates, in a sandy loam Dystric Plinthosol. Four doses of NPK 05-25-15, annually distributed in stripes (0, 100, 200 and 300 kg ha-1), and four doses of biochar (0, 8, 16 and 32 Mg ha-1), applied once in the first year - alone or with NPK - were evaluated. In the first year, biochar positively affected soil fertility [total organic carbon (TOC), Ca, P, Al, H+Al, and pH], at 0-10 cm soil depth, and it was the only factor with significant effect on yield. In the second year, the effect of biochar diminished or was overcome by the fertilizer. TOC moved down in the soil profile to the 0-20 cm depth, influencing K availability in this layer. In the second year, there was a significant interaction between biochar and the fertilizer on plant growth and biomass dry matter accumulation. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito do "biochar" de Eucalyptus sobre a fertilidade do solo, e sobre a produtividade e o desenvolvimento do arroz de terras altas. O experimento foi conduzido durante dois anos, em delineamento de blocos ao acaso, com quatro repetições, em Plintossolo Háplico franco-arenoso. Foram avaliadas quatro doses do fertilizante mineral NPK 05-25-15 (0, 100, 200 e 300 kg ha-1), distribuídas anualmente em faixas, e quatro doses de "biochar" (0, 8, 16 e 32 Mg ha-1), aplicadas uma única vez, no primeiro ano, sozinho ou com o fertilizante. No primeiro ano, o "biochar" afetou positivamente a fertilidade do solo [carbono orgânico total (TOC), Ca, P, Al, H+Al e pH], à profundidade de 0-10 cm, e foi o único fator com efeito significativo sobre a produtividade. No segundo ano, o efeito do "biochar" diminuiu ou foi superado pelo do fertilizante. O TOC se movimentou no perfil do solo para a profundidade de 10-20 cm, e isto influenciou a disponibilidade de K naquela camada. No segundo ano, houve interação significativa entre "biochar" e fertilizante quanto ao crescimento das plantas e ao acúmulo de massa de matéria seca.